International Development Secretary attending the Walk In her Shoes Mother's Day march in London

The UK government will double donations to CARE International’s ‘Help Her Live Learn and Earn’ campaign, International Development Secretary Justine Greening announced at the ‘Walk In Her Shoes’ march in London today, Sunday 6 March.

The walk along the Thames marked the launch of CARE’s campaign, for which the Department for International Development (DFID) will double up to £400,000 of donations until 4 June. All the extra funds will go directly to water, sanitation and women’s rights projects in the Afar region of Ethiopia.

This latest announcement forms part of the wider Department for International Development (DFID) UK Aid Match scheme, which match funds public donations to charity appeals for projects to reduce poverty in developing countries, giving the public a say in how the aid budget is spent.

International Development Secretary Justine Greening said:

Ethiopia’s drought-prone Afar region is one of the toughest places in the world to be a woman. Girls spend as much as four hours a day collecting water – time they could be spending in school – while practices like forced marriage and FGM are common.

The UK is at the forefront of efforts to improve the rights and wellbeing of girls and women around the world, which is why we will match all donations to CARE’s excellent campaign. This will help more than 6,000 women in the region get better access to safe water and provide training to improve sanitation.

The march, which began at The Scoop by City Hall, also featured the likes of Annie Lennox, Bianca Jagger and Dr Helen Pankhurst and looked ahead to International Women’s Day on March 8th.

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